Brietzke responded to a television programme screened at Christmas 1967 where tall boys were sought as rowers, and he joined SC DHfK Leipzig in response.

[5] At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Brietzke and his partner Mager won the gold medal in the coxless pair event.

[7] At the 1974 East German national championships, Brietzke, Mager, Stefan Semmler, and Andreas Decker became champions in two boat classes: in the coxless four,[5] and in the coxed four assisted by coxswain Matthias Sommer.

[9] Brietzke, Mager, Semmler, and Decker won the national coxless four event every year until 1979.

[3] In 2013, it was revealed that Brietzke was a member of the Stasi, the state security service of the German Democratic Republic.